“Women of the Catskills” book presentation by author Richard Heppner

Excerpt from the introduction of Mr. Heppner’s book “Women of the Catskills”;

“As a child, I heard their names frequently – names that connected me across time and distance to relatives that went before. It wasn’t until much later that it finally dawned on me that the names I often heard discussed at family gatherings were women who, through sheer determination, had forged a Catskills’ life that bore witness to their strength, ingenuity and creativity. No one ever told them it was a hard life, though their photographs offered faces and hands that echoed the content of their days. It was the only life they knew – the one they were given – and they lived it with a dignity specific to the context of their physical surroundings.

Years later, as I began my pursuit of local history, I would again remember the women of whom my family spoke. More and more, as I read, wrote, conducted research and pursued the history of Woodstock, New York, I became aware that the history I loved so much omitted the vital role women had in crafting not only Woodstock’s story, but that of the Catskills as well.

Most who encountered New York State’s Catskill Mountains have done so through the idealistic works offered by the likes of Washington Irving, Thomas Cole and others. Embracing the romantic era of the nineteenth century…

There is however, a reality to the history of the Catskills that runs counter to the romanticism that shaped its popular history. For in that reality, the history of the Catskills has seldom been told or viewed through the words, voices or deeds of the women who struggled to forge a life within the notches and the hollows of these mountains – women who were the “others” when it came to the power exercised by a male-dominated culture; women who, through sheer will and character, altered the history of the Catskills in ways both large and small.

The women that you will meet in the pages of this book are not individuals who have become household names. …They are simply, but importantly, women whose stories offer a glimpse into the living done by women whose life circumstances placed them within the heart of the Catskill Mountains…. For most, they lived not for a cause greater than themselves but to survive.”

Richard Heppner holds the rank of Professor Emeritus at Orange County Community College where, for twenty-five years, he served as a faculty member, Chair of the Arts and Communication Department, Associate Vice President of Liberal Arts and as Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Richard Heppner serves as town historian for Woodstock, NY and on the board of directors for the Historical Society of Woodstock and the Woodstock Memorial Society. Over the years, he has authored and edited numerous essays and texts on Woodstock’s unique history, including periodic pieces for the Woodstock Times and its parent company, Ulster Publishing. Residing in Woodstock , New York, his previous works for the History Press and Arcadia Publishing includes Remembering Woodstock, Legendary Locals of Woodstock and his latest book Woodstock – Everyday History

UCHS Members free, $7 for general public. Books will be available for sale.